As the woman laughed, Gatekeeper relaxed her expression, even chuckling a little in reply. She gave no tell that there was not an ounce of mirth behind her own reaction. Still smirking convincingly, she brushed a cluster of ice crystals off of her eyelashes, shook herself down, and sent a wave of distorted warmth shooting over her body. Warmth without a source, to anyone who could see energy -- not a product of visible magic, powers, or otherwise, just a mere raising of her body temperature by will alone.

"I tried to smooth out some of the curves," she replied jovially, taking a step towards the woman.

If I ever get the chance, I would kill you in an instant, you insufferable cunt. Laughing at me like that.

"Just to try and quell a bit of the nausea. Excuse my temperament, I'm not in the best of moods." She took another step forward, cocked her head, and smiled, running a hand nonchalantly through her hair. It dried and smoothed out in the fingers' wake. "I wanted to ask, do you only carry Earthly tomes? I've heard rumors of this place for many years, so pardon any errant curiosity. I am merely... happy to have found you."

Alone she drifts from ancient mists
Nary a candle, nary a wish
But in the wont of wandering paths
Through wooded knolls, and windworn crags
She seeks a face she thought as friend
But now -- she thinks as judgement's end

A flick of the wrist brought a chair sliding just behind Ms. Evans to allow her to take a seat.

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't care about making a profit, but I wouldn't bother building a library if I was focused on maximizing profits," she laughed to herself, "No, I... wanted to spend my life helping people in a way that made me happy. With my passion. Nothing unique about me in that regard though. Some people go out and fight villains. Some people donate. Some volunteer. I created a business that gives my customers the option to become more self-sufficient through the use of magic."

"And Miss Dubois, don't misunderstand but you just displayed you could like, summon things. Why not money? And then you can lease the books for free."

That one made Beatrice smile.

It... also made her wonder why more people didn't ask her that.

"I don't introduce millions of synthetic, conjured dollars into the world for the same reason that I don't summon an Ogre to go out and beat on everyone that I don't like. That would cause way more problems than it would solutions," Beatrice didn't feel as though she needed to explain the concept of inflation to Ms. Evans. She also knew that the few people who benefitted from what little they had learned in her Athenaeum were astronomically dwarfed by the number of people who depended on a stable economy to survive, "Way I see it, if I can make an exceedingly reliable income off of library cards alone, then why would I need to synthesize it?"

"Hehe," The teenager laughed. She didn't think a wizard, much less someone who owned an inter-dimensional library that could be accessed from anywhere across the globe, was capable of thinking about anyone else besides themselves. At least this one was not egocentric, it would seem. A real eye opener for her. And of course she knew about the whole economic depressions related to inflation and all that, just didn't expect her to care. "Moving on, don't you think it's kind of dangerous to give access to magic to common folk?"

"Potentially? Yes. I won't deny that. Though, much like any product purchased by a consumer, a person is free to do what they will after they leave my establishment; responsible decisions or otherwise."

That was all that she cared to say on that topic. Her eyes glanced away from the reporter for a moment before returning with a raised eyebrow.

"I have a question for you, Ms. Evans. What was it that brought you here today? Did your boss ask you to come or...," she leaned forward behind her desk, her smile growing slightly, "Was it your own decision to learn about the Athenaeum?"

"Hm," Sylvia jotted down her response. To her, it more sounded like Miss Dubois was reluctant to really assume responsibility for her actions, with she being the sole distributor of the resource that the reporter knew of. Still, that wasn't of particular importance. As she heard first hand, the distributed arts has merit in every field of application, and as with anything, it's merely a doorway. Those who chose to embark on it no doubt requires both talent and perseverance in the pursuit of knowledge. Not for everyone despite the profess.

wrote:"I have a question for you, Ms. Evans. What was it that brought you here today? Did your boss ask you to come or...," she leaned forward behind her desk, her smile growing slightly, "Was it your own decision to learn about the Athenaeum?"

Sylvia smiled at her question, excited too. Because libraries, well...libraries were where the teenager spent most of her time in. Her employer had nothing to do with her own personal interests. "Well, it's because I love libraries! And when I heard about this place I just knew I wanted to come here. Magic is foreign to me, though, I assume there's a spell or two that a book worm like me could learn and find useful to use..." in the reporting business, she wanted to say, but Sylvia also refrained from sounding selfish. She wanted to give an air of professionalism to Miss Dubois.

"A spell or two? Really? Look at where you are, kid. Give me a bit more credit than that." A building existed in multiple locations at once. Golems that maintained the place without the need for pay or nourishment. A seemingly endless collection of spell tomes and articles of myth. And she says, "one or two spells", pfft, "You put in enough work and you might even catch up to me one day. C'mon, I'm sure you walked in here wanting to learn something, right?"

Nobody past the age of 10 ever came into the Athenaeum out of sheer curiosity. She waited for just about a half second for Sylvia to respond she recognized the opportunity sitting right before her. Whatever it was that Sylvia was about to say, even if nothing at all, Beatrice decided that it could wait for a minute or two.

It was ultimately for her own good.

"Hang on one second, she leaned over her desk and put a finger over Sylvia's lips, "Regardless of what you try to learn in here, it's gonna take you a while to pick up if you're not familiar with magic or don't have the IQ of Einstein. That's the case for everyone, but I feel like I should do you a favor right now. Do both of us a favor."

She removed her finger from the girl's lips.

"I appreciate you paying me a visit today, and I'm even more grateful for the free publicity," she was gonna go ahead and assume that it would be good publicity. Especially considering the words that would follow, "But why stop there? Let's say that I help you to become proficient in magic. Right? Teach you those 'one or two' things. Would you be willing to write about it? All of the magnificent things that you were able to learn to do with magic and how it made your life easier? With how ubiquitous the Athenaeum is, I've never felt the need to invest in marketing. Word of mouth has suited me just fine. But... If you scratch my back, I'd be more than willing to scratch yours. What do you say?"

"Aaaah," Sylvia gasped, a bit surprised when the older woman spoke her mind. She kept her pen down on the paper and stopped scribbling. To have an experienced Witch show her the ropes was indeed an alluring offer. In this day and age, almost none of the more powerful and experienced mages were known to be taking in apperentices, at least, not to her knowledge, which, like, even if they did, the offer to simply make her more capable was something no one would really turn down, and Sylvia wasn't about to, either.

"Would you really? I mean, of course!" She couldn't hide her excitement at this point. Though, she had no idea what that actually meant. She didn't have any super powers or anything like that, and certainly no knowledge of magic either. But, Beatrice had shown her how effortless it was to make things appear. If she had this power, then, it might as well solve the world's hunger crisis! "I'll publicize the library's worth to the public. So, miss Dubois...what spell will you teach me!?"

If she could like grab a glass of water from across her apartment without having to walk or...turn the lights off, or even a spell that did her cooking automatically would be a great spell to have around for the sake of convenience.

“Well… none just yet. You see, as it stands, it wouldn’t do me any good to teach you anything so specific when you can’t even make use of the fundamentals,”Right. Those words probably wouldn’t mean anything to Ms. Evans on their own, “Um... At the moment, you and the vast majority of people are like birds that don’t know how to move the wings that you’ve been given. Before I can show you how to fly, I have to make sure that you can flap those wings in the first place. You understand.”

She called one of the aides to her desk; handing him a few signs from under her desk that would allow him to handle any simple situation that might arise in the next minute or two.

“Give me one second. I’ve got something that might help you out”

Beatrice made her way to the front door Athenaeumhenaeum and let a bolt of magic travel between her index finger and the doorknob. When it opened, if Sylvia had kept her eyes on the librarian as she made her exit, she would catch a glimpse of a setting far different from the city that she came from. Nothing unearthly, just… a view that not a lot of people could appreciate these days. A clear blue sky, no buildings or sidewalks to be seen, and lush fields of grass swaying in the cool breeze that carried the scent of wheat and barley. Only for a moment before the door slammed shut behind her.

A few minutes would pass before she returned with something clearly hidden behind her back.

“Not everyone has a natural talent for this sort of thing. And, even then, those with talent still have to devote a decent portion their time to study if they ever want to get much use out of the mystic arts,” her hand began to move from behind her back, “As for you, I have no idea where you stand in that regard. So, I’m just going to lend you my old training wheels from when I was just getting started.”

A feather.

Held between her fingers, the object that was to open the door to an entirely new world of possibilities to Sylvia, was not a majestic wand, nor a potion, nor any sort of clothing or weapon or amazing mechanism to act as a spectacle for the young girl’s eyes. A single, white goose feather in perfect condition was Beatrice’s gift to the reporter.

No...of course Sylvia didn't understand what she meant, though whether she might or might not in time was an entire other question. For Sylvia, according to her understanding and what little she'd heard of magic, it was always about certain symbols, runes and the use of words in a certain language, perhaps an intricate arrangement of candles, chalk and diagrams even, but usually nothing more complicated than that. Sylvia certainly had no grasp of the elements she sought to wield within her palms, and how unpredictable they could become in the hands of someone inexperienced. Beatrice's answer disappointed her a bit, mostly because she didn't seem to give her a direct answer, but dallied in seeming riddles. "Awh." She had a sullen expression on her face as she tapped the pen in her hand on the paper laid atop the receptionist's desk.

wrote:“Give me one second. I’ve got something that might help you out”

Sylvia's attention did not leave the woman. Her gaze was fixed on the older woman as she left the counter, leaving the position in the capable hands of one of her mute aids. She walked towards the exit, the other side of which Sylvia would presume was the city from whence she'd come. However, that wouldn't be so. As the sorceress approached the door, a bolt of magic escaped her index finger, and landed on the door. As it opened, Sylvia saw not the smoke and noise filled city, but a path of grass and a clear blue sky. She was never much of a dreamer and didn't care for such sights, but it was nonetheless intriguing to have seen what was previously the exit to a city change into something else.

The young reporter felt the hair on the back of her neck rise in excitement. If she could one day be able to go anywhere like Miss Dubois, then that would truly mean freedom itself. And for a reporter like her, such a skill and ability would no doubt be of invaluable use. She could not only be anywhere, but potentially escape any situation she might find herself in.

wrote:“Here. Don’t lose this, because I’ve only got one.”

You know, as the Sorceress returned, Sylvia was expecting her to bring some sort of powerful magical enchantment item or something of the manner that would help her become better at magic. She was just sorely disappointed when all the woman presented her with was a white feather, a single one. She raised her eyebrows as she took the feather from her hand. "What exactly am I supposed to do with this?"

Beatrice simply tilted her head then gently took the feather back from Sylvia's hands for a brief demonstration.

"You just need to get used to the feeling."

She ran her finger against the spine of the feather and vanished without a trace. A few seconds of eerie silence would pass before a faint laugh emanated from behind the librarian's desk.

"Don't worry, I'm still here," Sylvia would feel the bristles at the end of the goose feather tickle her hand before it, and the one who handed it to her, reappeared before her very eyes, "Pretty cool, right? All you need to do is run your finger down the spine of this feather, and you're outta sight."

She sat back in her chair with a smug grin as she let Sylvia mess around with her training wheels and ran over the safety precautions of it for a moment.

"A few things to note before you go crazy with that thing. That is not a weapon. It's a catalyst. It's about as sturdy as a pencil but twice as long. If you try to use it as a stick, it's probably going to break and you'll be out of luck. And, use it sparingly at first. If you find yourself fatiguing or your thoughts start to feel as though they aren't your own, put it down and take a break. And, most importantly, pay attention to your body as you use that. That's the only way that you're going to make any progress with that thing," By this point, Beatrice's grin had grown to stretch from ear to ear and her finger had begun to dance about the air as though she were lecturing her own child, "The catalyst has no internal power source. It pulls what little mana it can from within you and gives it form on its own. When you feel it doing that, embrace that sensation and attempt to mimic it voluntarily. Simple, right? Before I can teach you anything, you need to learn how to do two things. First, I'll need to see you turn something invisible at a distance. Second, I'll need to see you move uh..."

Beatrice's eyes narrowed and she sat up straight in her seat.

"Um... hmm"

She dived down under her desk looking for... something. After about five seconds of searching, she returned with what looked like a... smooth rock with the initials "ZHD" carved into it.

"...this. Once you can move this without touching it. I know that the idea of carrying that around is a bit odd but it was... well, it was... the norm when I was first getting started," that and the fact that she never saw the need to pull out relics like that until now, "So, any questions or are we in business?"